Neighbours rally against Kitty the 180kg pet lion

Thursday 18 May 2006 20.19 EDT
First published on Thursday 18 May 2006 20.19 EDT

Officials in the small Appalachian town of Melvin, Kentucky, hope to have an ordinance passed today in response to a 180kg (400lb) lion kept in a family's back yard. The Collins family, who have named the lion Kitty and housed it in a 28 sq metre (300 sq ft) cage for three years, would be obliged to find alternative accommodation under a ruling on "inherently dangerous" animals. They expressed their surprise. "He's not bothering nobody," Barry Collins said. But a neighbour said: "Everybody here keeps their gun loaded." The county attorney is trying to find a zoo to accept the lion.